World class events near you

ICE and our members arrange events for civil engineers and those working alongside them across the world. Discover more about some of our leading events or explore our events hub to discover events taking place near you.

Michael Newbery CEng MICE

I've lived in Chicago since 1985 and am currently Vice President with MWH Global and Executive Director for the design of the Panama Canal expansion. This is the project to build a third set of channel entrances (locks) to the canal on both the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean.

I’ve been privileged to work in several roles on the canal and have seen the project grow from concepts in 1999 to being 80% complete last year (2014). It’s taken a huge effort to get where we are – assembling a team of over 300 engineers working in six plus offices over three continents. Sometimes we forget our accomplishments when we're caught up in day-to-day challenges. But seeing what our team has been able to deliver has been a truly rewarding experience.

I became MICE qualified in 1985. Professional qualification was a fundamental step for me to move up the career ladder. Also, the learning required to do this has served me well in understanding how civil engineers contribute to society. For instance, balancing infrastructure development with environmental protection. It's also encouraged me to keep working on my continuing professional development.

My advice to students and graduates is to work on the softer skills you need to get ahead (e.g. languages, relationship building, networking and presenting). These will marry well with a solid grounding in technical disciplines. Stay up-to-date with what's happening in the industry too. Most of what you'll learn comes from on-the-job experience, so learn from the best.

Ishmael Paul Otoo, graduate member

I really enjoyed maths and physics at school and might have become a doctor, but I’m afraid of blood! Actually there's a lot of construction work going on in Ghana, and so good career opportunities for civil engineers.

I’m a civil/structural engineer with GHS Housing Limited, which develops housing that supports community and family living. The work I do really motivates me, especially our mission to ‘make the world habitable’. Designing solutions which improve people’s lives gives me a great deal of satisfaction.

My responsibilities include designing structural elements and also supervising construction work onsite. GHS takes on other types of projects too, so I have a varied portfolio of work which makes life interesting.

As a young engineer I used to find it difficult to manage lots of projects at the same time. But I’ve gained more confidence and experience now and find it a lot easier. I’ve also learnt to do detailed planning using MS project with the help of my supervisor. Challenges are part of everyday life and whenever they come I see them as an opportunity to learn.

I joined ICE because I wanted international professional recognition. Being a graduate member gives me the opportunity to be mentored so I can qualify as an MICE member. It also gives me a sense of belonging to a community of engineers across the world.

When I’m not working I do missionary work on holiday, and sometimes even get to take time off my busy schedule to see my friends!

Holly Graham, EngTech MICE

I work for TransportNI as a Professional Technical Officer and I've been here over five years now.

We're responsible for about 25,000km (15,500 miles) of public roads together with about 9,500km (6,000 miles) of footways, plus bridges, street lights and public car parks.

While working I also volunteered as a STEMNET ambassador to inspire young people about science, technology, engineering and maths. This is something I feel is important and would like to continue to do.

In 2012, having completed a BTEC qualification and work experience, I became a technician member. I joined ICE because I wanted my experience to be recognised by an internationally respected engineering body.

I think I’ve definitely received more recognition for qualifying as a technician member and I feel very proud for achieving this. It should stand in my favour for future promotions and open up doors for me within the industry.

I would say to any aspiring technicians: get the most out of your job, listen to your colleagues and learn from them. And, most of all, get your head down and work hard – it'll pay off.

Debabrata Paul CEng MICE

Science and its application have fascinated me since I was a child. I even built a short gravel road and septic tank for our home which was not served by public works when I was still in junior school.

Currently, I’m based in India with WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff and lead a design delivery team of 30-plus engineers and technicians working to support infrastructure projects in the UK.

I have enjoyed a 20 year career as a civil engineer in the transport sector, working around the world on a range of projects from road schemes, motorways, major interchanges to light rail projects.

The most challenging were the designs of Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route in the UK as road design engineer, and Western Freeway Sea Link to provide a link between Worli and Haji Ali along the western sea-coast of Mumbai, India as deputy project manager. The latter was particularly challenging with the involvement of multiple stakeholders including several government agencies, developers, local and international contractors and citizen groups.

CEng MICE definitely gave me a competitive edge as the Institution of Civil Engineers is internationally recognised. Being a Chartered Member is a great honour, and gives me a qualification that is greatly valued and respected wherever I go.

Having achieved CEng MICE, I now support and mentor young engineers as a supervising civil engineer for ICE, a role I thoroughly enjoy. In future, I hope to continue to work on challenging engineering projects and I also aspire to be an ICE Fellow at some point.

Alex Pugh IEng MICE

When I was a teenager, an engineer from Alfred McAlpines came to my school to promote civil engineering as a career. He brought an ice cream tub filled with soil and water and asked: ‘How could you build on such weak soil?’.

This made me really interested in working out the problems and the potential solutions. From that point, I started to think seriously about working in the built environment.

I now head up the civil asset management for the South East Queensland Network for Queensland Rail in Australia. My main role is to operate and maintain the railway infrastructure in Northern Queensland.

While growing up I was part of my family’s agricultural business. This exposed me to the forces of nature and mankind, and how they interact. However, I’d never known the power and destructive energy of a category 5 cyclone until Cyclone Yasi hit Queensland coast in 2011. The cyclone caused real damage to the railway system in North Queensland.

My job was to manage the response and the recovery of the railway before and after the cyclone had passed. This involved working out a recovery plan, assessing the damage and starting the repair straightaway. It was important to get this done quickly (in a matter of days) as the railway is an important part of the food supply chain for North Queensland.

I'm really glad that I followed my dream to become a professionally qualified civil engineer.